A false social media claim that UNHCR had announced the resettlement of 850,000 African migrants within Libya’s population triggered protests and reported violence against migrants, according to a BBC analysis. The claim was posted from an Egyptian X account on June 3 and spread across Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. UNHCR formally rejected it as entirely false, but its response reached relatively few people. Within a day, protesters gathered outside UNHCR’s headquarters in Tripoli, with some entering the compound, erecting tents and building sand piles at the gate.

The BBC said the narrative reached at least one million users and was amplified by an apparently artificial account network. On Facebook, 34 of 40 identified accounts were created between May 2 and 7, and collectively reached 1.46 million followers. Meta said it had deployed a team to monitor Libya around the clock and removed 11 accounts after BBC contact.

Libya had more than 930,000 migrants in early 2026, alongside more than 112,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Migrants and asylum seekers reported increased attacks and harassment after the incident. Authorities in eastern and western Libya announced raids involving arrests, detention and deportation, while both administrations rejected the idea of permanently settling migrants in the country.